


the repeated suggestion of a different state of being

by lauraxtennant



Series: Ten/Rose Collection 2014 [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Oral Sex, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:40:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauraxtennant/pseuds/lauraxtennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten/Rose; based on mylovelyillusion’s prompt on tumblr - "Do you take prompts? If so I’d love to see something with Ten and Rose and Jimmy Stone showing up again! And something is up with the TARDIS so they’re stuck on Earth for a while having to deal with him. You don’t see enough fics out there that delve into Jimmy Stone and what he did to Rose."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“She just needs a rest,” the Doctor explained. “Remember how queasy she felt when she landed on Krop Tor? Well, that and her falling down into the pit have done a bit of a number on her. We’ll stay with your mother for a bit whilst she recuperates.”

Rose’s eyebrows furrowed in concern and her hand reached out, stroking the console involuntarily. “But she’ll be all right, yeah? No lasting damage or anything?”

The Doctor smiled at his friend reassuringly. “She’ll be fine, Rose. Don’t worry.”

Given that the TARDIS needed to power down for a few days, the Doctor decided to stay in the flat with Rose. He didn’t require as much sleep as humans, so he assured Jackie that he’d be fine to have the odd kip on the sofa if he needed it.

They’d landed near dinnertime, so the three of them settled in front of the telly after ordering some takeaway pizza.

“Shareen phoned the other day,” Jackie said, suddenly remembering. “Asked if I could tell you that she wanted you to visit her next time you were around.”

Rose frowned. “Is she all right? Why didn’t she just ring my mobile? We could’ve visited her straight away.”

“Dunno,” shrugged Jackie. “She sounded fine. Maybe she couldn’t get through to you or something. Anyway, she said she had some things to tell you, so you ought to pop ‘round hers after tea.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Rose murmured, still frowning. Then she shook her head to clear her thoughts and shifted a couple of inches closer to the Doctor on the sofa. “Do you want to come with?”

The Doctor glanced away from the telly to look at her in surprise. “Why?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Just thought you might want to come. You know, seeing as otherwise you’ll be stuck here with Mum on your own,” she said, lowering her voice.

“Heard that,” chuckled Jackie good-naturedly, watching the Doctor shudder. She stood up. “I’m gonna make a cuppa, you two want one?”

“Yeah, ta Mum,” Rose answered, smiling, and the Doctor agreed.

Rose turned back to the Doctor, “So, you gonna - ”

“Yes,” he answered quickly. “Definitely. Last time I was left alone with your mother, things were…alarming.”

“In what way?” Rose laughed.

The Doctor tugged on his ear awkwardly. “Well, let’s just say she had a few questions about, er, the things we get up to. Or rather, don’t get up to. Things that she thought we – yeah. Anyway.”

Rose groaned, realising what he meant. “She never gives up, does she? No matter how many times I tell her we aren’t like that.” She heaved a sigh. “Sorry about that.”

He swallowed hard and returned his gaze to the television programme that was on. “It’s all right.”

She nudged his arm with her elbow. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

Rose shrugged it off and shifted even closer, nudging at his arm again to get him to lift it. He did, allowing her to snuggle in, and wrapped his arm across her shoulders. “Can’t wait for the pizza to arrive, I’m starving.”

“Me too.”

“You ordered the usual, yeah? We’re gonna go half and half again, right? ‘Cos you know I like some variety.”

The Doctor chuckled and rested his cheek against the side of her head. “Yep, got the same as always. They said it’d be thirty minutes.”

When Jackie returned to the room with their tea, she smiled fondly at them. “Don’t you two look cosy,” she grinned, placing their mugs on the coffee table and whacking the Doctor’s shins with a magazine to get him to shift his ankles off of it. They ignored her remark, eyes trained on the telly, but he dutifully moved his feet to the floor. Jackie wandered over to the cupboard and dug out a blanket, then threw it at them. “There you go, get all snug as a bug in a rug,” she grinned again.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but seeing as Rose did seem a bit chilly, he draped it over their laps.

“So what exciting places have you two been to lately, anyway?” Jackie asked, as she settled back in her armchair and took a sip of tea.

They shared a quick glance, one wherein they were able to communicate quite clearly to one another that they wouldn’t be mentioning their most recent adventure on an impossible planet. The fears and losses and their brief but almost permanent separation were all too fresh in their minds, and they didn’t need to worry Jackie about it anyway.

“Oh, here and there,” the Doctor said breezily. “Took Rose to the New Emporium of Scandivabaar the other day. You’d like it there, Jackie; ten thousand shops all on one of the handy-dandy moons of Tshikov.”

Jackie laughed, “It’s funny, I never think of you going to places like that. In my head it’s all monsters and running about – but I suppose you were right, that time you said – do you remember, Doctor? You said ‘trouble’s just the bits in between.’ I never really believed you, to be honest.”

Rose felt the Doctor tense up slightly, no doubt wishing the trouble they’d just experienced hadn’t occurred. “We go all sorts of places, Mum. Last week, right, we were on this planet called – what was it? Daia? Doia?”

“Diaoa,” he murmured, with a small smile.

“That’s it! Yeah, so we were there, and there’s this small mountain they’ve got there that if you climb right to the top, which we did – well, we cheated a bit and took the TARDIS, but you know what I mean – well, from the top you can look out across the entire continent, and it’s completely silent. Like, you can be watching all those people – lots of different species – all hanging out and going about their lives living in harmony with one another down below, but you can’t hear a thing up there, at the peak! It’s so peaceful. And there was this gorgeous lavender sunset – oh, it was lovely, Mum; I could’ve painted it, it was so inspiring.”

Jackie pressed her lips together as if to hold in a laugh.

“What?” Rose asked, frowning at what she deemed to be an inappropriate reaction to what she’d said.

“Nothing, nothing,” Jackie smiled. She looked at the Doctor, made sure to meet his eye as she continued, “Just…sounds like a date, that’s all.”

To Jackie’s delight, the Doctor glared at her as both his and Rose’s cheeks went pink.

Rose huffed and, not looking at the Doctor, she replied, “Well straight after that we went and put down a rebellion in Barcelona – the planet Barcelona – and got arrested, so you can put any thoughts of dates out of your head, Mum.”

Jackie sipped at her tea casually and simply answered, “To be honest, sweetheart, that sounds like the sort of date you two would love.”

Rose practically growled in response, feeling very embarrassed that Jackie would say these things at all let alone in front of the Doctor. Thankfully the doorbell rang so she leapt up to get the pizza, grabbing her purse from the hall table as she went.

The Doctor watched her go, and when he heard her open the front door and make small talk with the delivery man, he leant forwards and whispered to Jackie, firmly but not unkindly, “Rose has had a tough time of it the past twenty-four hours. I don’t think she’s really in the mood for your teasing, Jackie; do you mind dialling it down a tad?”

Jackie raised her hand in surrender. “Fine, fine – but how do you mean, a tough time? What happened?” She narrowed her eyes. “Did you do something?”

“Me? No. Well, yes. It’s always my fault, really, isn’t it? But it wasn’t – we haven’t had a fight or anything, if that’s what you mean.”

“Well I can see that, the way you two have been canoodling on my sofa all night,” Jackie pointed out.

“Canoodling? Canoodling! Such a strange and inaccurate word, Jackie Tyler,” the Doctor sniffed, leaning back. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Rose said, sounding confused as she re-entered the room, carrying three pizza boxes.

“Nothing!” squeaked the Doctor.

Jackie just shook her head, smiling mysteriously. “Oi, give it to us then, I’m hungry,” she said, holding out her hand for her pizza.

::

Later, when Rose and the Doctor were walking to Shareen’s, they spoke a little about what had happened on Krop Tor.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it,” Rose said carefully, as they left the flat. “But…we didn’t really get a chance to – to recover, I guess, before coming here. I mean, I couldn’t sleep very well last night, and I know you didn’t get much more than a nap either. And then we just…came to see Mum, and I’m not – I dunno. It’s all still whirling around in my head and…” she trailed off, and linked arms with the Doctor, who was staring straight ahead and, Rose could tell, holding his breath.

He finally exhaled, and replied quietly, “I don’t know what to say, to be honest. It was…”

“Yeah.”

“But now we’re, well, we’re back together and we’re – safe. And it lied, Rose, it did.”

“You really think that?” she said shakily.

“Yes. I will not let – it won’t happen. It just won’t.”

Rose nodded and swallowed thickly. “Okay.”

The Doctor unlinked their arms so that he could grab her hand. Giving it a squeeze, he said, “You said just now that you couldn’t sleep last night. I knew it, I knew you were pretending.”

She shrugged a shoulder and smiled faintly. “Sorry. Didn’t want to worry you. Appreciated the cuddling, though.”

After saying goodbye to Ida and the other crew-members, the Doctor had diverted the TARDIS to the vortex and gone to bed with Rose. It wasn’t the first time he had stayed with her through the night – he tended to do that, now and then, after a particularly harrowing adventure. He usually just lay atop the duvet and let her snuggle against him until she fell asleep, then read a book or tinkered or something until she woke up. Last night, though – last night had been different. He changed into his pyjamas, just as she did, and slipped in beside her, curling around her from behind immediately, needing the comforting warmth of her presence as much as she needed his.

“Yes, well,” he murmured, in the here and now. “We both needed that, I reckon.”

Rose’s smile widened. “Yeah.” She was surprised, actually, that he’d so readily come to her room like that, without her even having to ask. She had thought, with him nearly losing his ship forever, that he’d want to spend some time under the TARDIS console. But no.

He cleared his throat, then. “And, er, about what happened in the morning - ”

“It’s okay, Doctor, I already said that it’s fine. It happens, I get it, it’s fine.”

“No, but I…”

“I know it didn’t mean anything,” Rose said quickly, “You don’t have to worry that I’m gonna misinterpret it, or something. Happens to loads of blokes.”

“It…what?”

“Well, I mean, not that I’ve – _that_ much experience – but everyone knows that blokes, you know, have that, in the morning, when they wake up – even if they haven’t been dreaming, or whatever - and it’s all right.”

The Doctor chuckled uneasily, feeling his cheeks heat up. He didn’t know why he’d brought it up again; he felt now that he should’ve just left it how it was, how they’d left it earlier, when they’d awoken from what little sleep they had managed to get and she’d assured him not to worry about the erection pressed against her bum. “I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t, er. Offended or anything.”

Rose snorted. “Offended? Why would I be offended, of all things?”

“Well, all right, I just didn’t know if you thought that maybe – that the reason I’d – well, it wasn’t. I didn’t sleep in your bed with the intention of - ”

“I know,” Rose laughed, bumping his shoulder with hers. “I know you wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Okay. Just so – just so we’re clear.”

She swung their hands between them, smiling up at him reassuringly. “Yes. I mean, you don’t even…”

“Don’t even what?”

Her face flushed. “Well, you don’t, do you? ‘Hardly used,’ and all that. Right?”

The Doctor released her hand and scratched at his neck, following Rose up the stairs in Shareen’s building. “Yeah.”

When they reached Shareen’s floor, Rose took his hand back in hers and they wandered along the balcony to the flat. “I used to wonder, you know, if it even…worked like that, for Time Lords.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“What?” he squeaked.

Rose smothered a laugh. “For all I knew there could be tentacles that, like, disengage from your body and - ”

He stopped walking and put his free hand over her mouth. She giggled against his palm, and his eyes twinkled at her. “Don’t even finish that sentence,” he said, lips twitching. “I don’t want to know what scenarios you cooked up in that dark, dark mind of yours.”

Rose grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her mouth. “I’m just kidding, Doctor. Nothing dark about the scenarios I’ve thought up.”

“No?”

“Nope.” She held his gaze. Stroked her thumb across the back of his hand. Took a tiny step forward.

He swallowed. “So - ”

“Thought I heard your voice, Rose!” called Shareen, as she opened her front door.

They dropped each other’s hand and jumped in surprise. “Oh,” Rose smiled. “Hi Shareen! We were just gonna knock. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine, hun, how are you?” she said, embracing Rose in a big hug. The Doctor stood there, eyes darting around, awkwardly running a hand through his hair and trying to get his thoughts on the right track.

“I’m pretty good,” Rose beamed.

“Come in, then,” Shareen beamed back, then tugged on the Doctor’s arm to get his attention, “And you, mister. Fancy a drink?”

He smiled at her and nodded, “Sure, yes, thanks.”

They congregated in Shareen’s living room, and she went to fetch some beers from the fridge. The Doctor looked at Rose, but she wouldn’t meet his eye. They sat down on opposing ends of Shareen’s sofa.

“Here you go,” said Shareen, handing a bottle each to them. “Now, Rose, I s’pose it’s best I come right out and say what I’ve got to say to you.”

“How do you mean?” Rose asked, brow furrowing. She knew it. She knew there was something wrong. “What’s happened?”

Shareen let out a long breath as she sank into the armchair opposite Rose. “Jimmy’s back in town.”

Rose froze, the bottle of beer halfway to her lips. She set it down on the coffee table and fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket. “Right. Okay. Since when?”

The Doctor observed Rose closely, taking in her agitated state. He knew about Jimmy Stone taking off and leaving her for someone else - about how he’d taken some of her savings, too. What he didn’t know was how Rose felt about the man these days. Jimmy had been gone from her life for a few years, but the Doctor wasn’t sure whether Rose hated him or still – well.

“Couple of weeks. Been in and out of prison, apparently, all over the place.”

“What for?”

“Oh, the usual. Assault, drugs. Stuff like that. Got himself back on track now…according to Kev, he’s a salesman, or something. Door-to-door thing, ya know. Anyway, I just thought you ought to know that he was back. In case he…”

Rose stiffened. “In case he what?”

Shareen shifted awkwardly.

“What is it, Shareen?” the Doctor prompted.

Shareen sighed. “Thing is, I’ve heard through the grapevine that he’s been asking around about you.”

“Oh. Why? Four years ago, he left me. What’s he want to get in touch with me now, for?”

“Maybe he wants to reimburse you,” the Doctor offered. “After leaving you to take the fall for him with that debt of his.”

Rose snorted a laugh, as did Shareen. “Yeah, doubt it, Doctor. Jimmy ain’t really the sort of bloke to apologise for something like that, let alone pay someone back.”

“But if he’s turned himself around and all that - ”

“Nah, I don’t think so, Doctor.”

“It’s more likely that he wants to, er, catch up, Rose,” mumbled Shareen.

“Just what’s he been saying? Come on, Shareen, tell me.”

Running her fingers through her dark hair, Shareen sighed again and admitted, “He heard through Keisha’s old bloke Damian that you’ve been away travelling. And that you’d, you know, found someone else,” she added, nodding towards the Doctor.

“Well, four years later what did he expect me to have done? Sat around waiting for him to come back like a loser?”

“I dunno, but you know what he’s like. Remember that time we were at that club and that fella chatted you up? And Jimmy came bounding over ready to strike - ”

“He did what?” demanded the Doctor. “Rose, he didn’t - ”

“No, listen, it’s all right, he never hurt me,” Rose assured him, seeing the look on his face. “He could just get a little jealous, that’s all.”

“A little?” Shareen scoffed. “He threatened to tear that bloke’s bollocks off!”

“Nothing happened, though, we just left and he didn’t touch him. Er, that time, anyway.”

“Still, some of his mates have been encouraging him to see you, so you better keep an eye out.”

“What’d they do that for?” Rose groaned, and picked up her beer, taking a few gulps. She wiped her chin, set the bottle down, and flung her head back against the sofa. “He was always worse when he was around that lot. Bunch of pricks, the lot of ‘em.”

“Apparently Gazza told him he’d seen you down at Bill’s chip shop a couple of months back. Said that you looked all grown-up and happy and – er, well, he said you two looked cosy,” Shareen said next, glancing between Rose and the Doctor.

“Funny, we’re being told that a lot lately,” the Doctor muttered, rubbing at his eye tiredly.

“Great,” Rose mumbled.

“Jimmy apparently didn’t take too well that you’d found some older guy to fool around with.”

The Doctor interjected, “Rose and I do not ‘fool around.’”

Shareen rolled her eyes and smirked, “Fine, whatever you want to call it. I was just trying to keep it kid-friendly for your sensitive ears. I saw how you blushed, Doctor, when Bev started making all those comments at New Years’.”

“What comments?” Rose asked curiously.

“Nothing, really,” he hurried to reply, before Shareen could get a word in. “Let’s just say she used some colourful language to insinuate what you and I – er, don’t do.”

“Don’t do?” retorted Shareen, laughing hard. “Hahaha, good one.”

Rose groaned again and put her head in her hands. “Why does everyone think we’re fucking?” she complained.

Shareen stopped laughing. “Wait, what? You’re saying you’re not?” Her eyes darted between them both, taking in the Doctor’s embarrassed refusal to meet her gaze and Rose’s pink cheeks. “What?” They remained silent. “No, but – what? I thought you two were – _what?”_

Rose coughed awkwardly. “Yeah, well, you thought wrong. Just leave it, yeah?”

“But - ”

“Shareen,” Rose hissed, completely mortified.

Shareen nodded dazedly. “Right. Okay. Sorry.” She cleared her throat to divert the conversation. “So! Anyway! What have you been up to, recently?”


	2. Chapter 2

They stayed at Shareen’s for an hour, and thankfully the atmosphere had lightened fairly quickly as they shared stories of what they had been doing since they last saw each other. When they left, though, there was a tense silence between the Doctor and Rose. Both of them shoved their hands into their trouser pockets, and they began their walk back to Jackie’s rather awkwardly.

Rose felt like she needed to breach the quiet void that stood between them. “Um. Sorry, you know, for earlier. For when Shareen was – well.”

The Doctor sighed. “You don’t need to keep apologising for other people, Rose. I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“It’s just, I know it must get on your nerves, and, well, I don’t want it to get in between us, yeah? I don’t want it to affect our friendship.”

“It doesn’t and won’t.”

“Okay. Well, good.”

“Yes.”

“Except,” she started anxiously. “It sort of does, though? It does affect us. You. I mean, I get embarrassed too, but you – you act like it’s, I dunno, some huge deal.”

“No, I don’t. Not at all. I’ve never made a big deal out of it or said anything or - ”

“No, that’s just it, you make a big deal out of it in the way you go all silent and brooding and never say - ”

“Well I thought that was the best way of dealing with it. Didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or – cause a fuss, rock the boat, all that.”

“Yeah, chance’d be a fine thing,” Rose grumbled under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she sighed, quickening her pace, walking ahead of him.

The Doctor grabbed her wrist, hauling her back towards him. “No, wait,” he said, his voice low. His eyes flicked between hers, searching her gaze. “What do you mean by that?”

“Sometimes, Doctor, I have to wonder what you think is even going on, yeah? Why do you think all these people think we’re – together? Eh?”

He shrugged. “Because we act like we are.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “What?”

“That’s why people think we are. Because we act like we are. That’s – it’s obvious, really, how people could get the wrong impression.”

Her breathing sped up. “So – why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you carry on acting this way? Letting them think that? If you know that that’s the reason.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? It doesn’t matter what other people think.”

“So you don’t care?”

“I don’t care,” he confirmed.

“You’re not – freaked out? Or offended that they would think you’d – with me?”

His forehead crinkled in confusion. “You don’t half say some daft things, Rose Tyler. Why in the world would I be offended that people think that I’m the lucky sod who gets to be with you?”

Rose’s mouth fell open. She didn’t know what to say to that. Her gaze lowered and she realised he was still gripping her wrist. Even when he noticed her noticing, he didn’t let go. She looked back up at him, questions filling her head. “Would you - ” she started, then cut herself off, licking her lips hesitantly. “Would you want to be?”

The Doctor’s eyes darkened. “Who wouldn’t?” he said softly.

“But…” she said shakily, her free hand reaching forwards to fiddle with his jacket lapel. “I thought you just wanted to be friends.”

“I want whatever you want,” he admitted. “I can – friends or, well, you know. Either. Either is good.”

“Both?”

“Both is better,” he nodded, starting to smile.

Rose’s fingers curled into the pinstriped fabric, grasping firmly and tugging him down to her. His lips were on hers within seconds. Soft, at first – something tender that Rose had never expected. And then, more. His tongue, slipping in through her parted lips; his body, pressing into hers as he backed her up against the wall of the nearest building. One hand pinning her wrist against the brick, the other cupping her jaw, fingertips dipping into her hair. He kissed her deeply, as though he had been waiting for this moment for a while, possibly as long as she had. Rose was overwhelmed but delighted. She couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

His hand dropped from cradling her face to her hip, bunching the fabric of her jacket in his fist as he fought to reign it in a bit. He was so thrilled to be kissing her at last that he worried about getting carried away. Loosening his hold on her wrist, he let her move it out of his grip; she took his hand and guided it to her waist, and then ran her fingers through his hair. He shuddered against her at the sensation.

When she pulled away from the kiss to catch her breath, he stared at her with wide, dark eyes, panting a bit himself. “Is this…?” he whispered.

Rose bit her lip, smiling. "Yeah."

He leant down and kissed her again, chastely this time, just a quick press of lips. Resting his forehead to hers, nose nudging her nose, he whispered, “I’ve been thinking about doing that for a very long time.” He fiddled with the zip on her jacket, undoing it to sneak his hands in, resting them both on her waist. He could feel the heat of her skin through the thin material of her top.

“Why now?” she whispered back.

He gave a small shrug, his eyes fluttering closed. “After what happened yesterday…well, let’s just say I never want to risk losing you like that again at all, but especially not without you knowing how I…” He nudged her nose again, affectionately. “How I feel.”

Rose kissed him, this time, and thoroughly. She was unable to resist giving his bottom lip a quick nibble when she pulled back, and he groaned before dropping his mouth to her neck, sucking at her skin and daring to have a quick nibble himself. Rose smiled slackly in pleasure, arching against him and tugging at his hair when he muffled another groan into the curve where her neck met shoulder. When he lifted his head to return his lips to hers, she placed her hands over his and moved them slightly beneath the hem of her t-shirt, whispering hotly, “Touch me?”

He complied, sliding his hands fully under her t-shirt as he kissed her again, fingers dancing up her ribs while she sucked on his tongue. Pressing his hips into hers, he cupped her breasts, squeezing gently and smiling against her lips when she let out a muffled squeak.

She pushed against his chest and he released her mouth. “Sorry, need to breathe,” she grinned, clutching at his jacket tightly. “Also, we should probably go home.”

He glanced around the alleyway he’d accidentally started snogging her in. “Ah. Yeah, forgot where we were for a moment there.” He didn’t stop with his groping, though, and that made Rose laugh.

“Me too,” she giggled. “It’s good, though. Kind of fun. And I mean, no one’s looking or anything.”

“It’s eleven o’clock at night, though. Bound to be some people coming home from the pub soon,” he pointed out. He stroked her sternum with his thumbs, feeling her goosebumped skin. “Plus, you’re cold.”

She shivered, confirming his point. “True,” she admitted, then bit her lip. “Hope Mum’s already gone to bed when we get back.”

“Hmm, me too,” he said, voice dropping low. “I’ve got this rather urgent need to see what this looks like,” he informed her, running his finger along the cup of her bra. “Feels lacy.”

“Is lacy,” she replied, eyes mischievous. “Looks racy.”

He chuckled. “Is that so?”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded.

He lifted an eyebrow. “What colour?”

“Black,” she answered. “Not got matching knickers on, though, sadly.”

The Doctor laughed, and dropped his hands from her chest, sneaking them around her back to pull her bum away from the brick wall. “Well, I can’t wait to find out what colour those are,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again, giving her arse a squeeze for good measure.

After a few moments, he pulled back from this kiss with a happy hum and zipped her jacket back up.

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere warm so we can have our wicked way with each other,” he teased, tugging her along with him as he stepped backwards out of the alley. He slipped a hand into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled her into his side as they walked along, grinning down at her whilst exaggeratedly waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m saying some very rude things to you right now,” he told her wisely. “In the language of the Datonians, who speak with their hands and eyebrows.”

“You not gonna translate?” she asked, nudging him with her elbow.

“Not until later,” he practically growled, sending her into another giggling fit.

Rose’s laughter at the funny expression he was making abruptly stopped short when she realised who was sauntering towards them. “Oh, shit,” she mumbled, yanking his hand out of her pocket and putting a bit of distance between them. The Doctor looked confused for a moment, until he glanced ahead and saw a young bloke with shaggy blond hair leering at them.

“So this is him, eh?” said the man as he got nearer. He nodded to behind them. “Saw you two coming out of there. Figured what with him being a ‘doctor’ that he wouldn’t fancy doing you in an alleyway, but I guess you have that effect, Rose, eh?”

The Doctor bristled but Rose retorted before he could, “Go away, Jimmy. I’ve got no interest in talking to you.”

“No? Why’s that, then, babe? Thought you’d be happy to hear I’m back,” he grinned.

“Why would I give a toss about you, eh? You left four years ago. People have moved on, right, so you might as well piss off again before you drag this estate back to what it was like when you were hanging around,” she snapped, folding her arms.

The Doctor rather thought that he and Rose ought to just walk away and not engage this Jimmy fellow in conversation at all, but he acknowledged privately the she probably had some unfinished business to air out. For closure, and all that. So he stood, next to her but quiet, watching her say her piece.

“Hey no need to get like that,” Jimmy said, edging closer to them. “What’s say you and me go for a drink at mine and catch up properly, yeah?”

“Er, no,” Rose replied, shaking her head. “That is the last thing in the world I want to do. Go find your latest girlfriend, hmm? ‘Cos I’m not interested.”

“We had fun, me and you, back in the day.” He looked the Doctor up and down. “A lot more fun then I bet you have with this fella.”

Rose laughed. “I don’t think so, mate.” She reached for the Doctor’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Now, we’re gonna go - ”

Jimmy took a few steps forward, into Rose’s personal space. “Look, I know I messed you around, but I’ve changed. Gone on the straight and narrow, I have. So give me a chance to just - ”

“No,” Rose said firmly. “Now get out of my way.”

Jimmy looked between Rose and the Doctor, huffing in frustration. But he didn’t move.

“You heard her,” the Doctor said, in a low voice. “Shift.”

“Well you can stay out of this,” Jimmy told him. “Let me just talk to Rose for a bit. Why don’t you go up and talk to Jackie, eh? She’s more your age, anyway.”

“Oi!” snapped Rose, letting go of the Doctor’s hand and yanking Jimmy’s jumper up to his chin fiercely. “Shut up, and go home!”

Jimmy laughed, staring down at Rose with his hands held up in surrender. “Fine, fine! Cor, forgot how feisty you could get.” One of his hands wandered down and sat low on her hip. “Missed that,” he said, smiling mischievously. The Doctor sniffed and casually karate-chopped Jimmy’s wrist so that his hand would slip away from Rose. Jimmy shook out his hand, wincing.

She tilted her head, gesturing to the Doctor. “Well, we’re the stuff of legend, me and him together, so you’d better watch out,” Rose smiled at Jimmy sarcastically. The Doctor’s lips twitched in admiration. “Now piss off!” She pushed him back, letting go of his jumper, and started moving around him.

“Fine, be like that,” huffed Jimmy. “But you get in touch if this guy moves onto someone else, yeah?”

The Doctor and Rose both whirled around at the same time and glared at Jimmy with equally annoyed expressions. “Never gonna happen,” Rose said. “Wouldn’t come near you again in a million years. See ya!”

Rose linked arms with the Doctor and they walked briskly across the courtyard without looking back.

::

“Thanks, Doctor.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Never would’ve felt safe enough to say all that stuff if you weren’t there, though,” Rose admitted to the Doctor as they made their way up the stairs to Jackie’s flat. “You know, at night and all that. It was good, us being there together.”

“A united front,” the Doctor murmured, offering her a small smile.

“Yeah, exactly.”

Once they were back inside the flat, they both took off their jackets and went to the kitchen. The Doctor took a couple of mugs from the cupboard whilst Rose filled up the kettle, and they went about making their tea.

“All’s quiet,” Rose murmured, taking the milk from the Doctor’s outstretched hand. “Seems like Mum’s asleep.”

The Doctor plucked a post-it note that was held to the fridge by a magnet between his fingers. “Here, she left us a note.”

_Popped down the hall to see Andy, might not be back til morning. Hope you had a nice time at Shareen’s. Don’t you two disappear tomorrow without having breakfast with me. Mum xxx_

“Oh, god. Not Andy. Blimey,” Rose muttered, looking at the note from behind the Doctor, standing on tiptoes to rest her chin on his shoulder.

“What happened to Howard?” he asked, putting the note back on the fridge. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Rose’s waist.

“He ended things, I think, about a month back.”

“Oh. That’s a shame.”

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t good enough for her anyway,” Rose sniffed.

“Of course he wasn't," the Doctor agreed. "The man kept fruit in his dressing gown. Who keeps fruit in their dressing gown?"

Rose smiled gratefully. "Exactly."

"What’s Andy like, then?”

“Meh, he moved in a couple of doors down about three years back. Nice enough, bit lonely. Fixes hoovers. Quite good-looking, actually, but I wouldn’t have thought he’d be Mum’s type. He’s got dark hair. Mum likes gingers,” Rose grinned.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Oh, well, now I’m relieved that I was given these luscious brown locks.”

“You sure about that? You were lamenting that you’d never been ginger not long ago.”

“Nope, I’m completely content, now. Being propositioned by your mother the first time was bad enough - ”

“Um, what?” Rose demanded, her eyebrows jumping up her forehead. “Since when did she – what?”

He unwound one arm from around her to tug on his ear sheepishly. “Oh, did I – did I never tell you about that?”

“No,” she exclaimed in horror.

“Oh, well. When I first came to the flat – you remember, when I was nosing about and you pulled me inside. Well, you went to the kitchen to get me a cuppa, much like you’re doing now – the kettle’s boiled, by the way - ”

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Right. Er. Well, I was just sort of standing in the hallway near your mother’s bedroom door and she sort of hinted that she’d like me to come in and see what could happen.” He pulled a face. 

Rose dropped her forehead to his shoulder, and started laughing. “Oh, god. That’s just. Wow.”

“Mmm. Obviously I declined.”

“Obviously.”

“I sort of already fancied her daughter quite a lot, so.”

“No you never,” Rose laughed, lifting her head.

He squeezed her closer to him. “Did, a bit.”

“You’d only just met me the night before.”

“Yeah, well, you made an impression,” he grinned.

“You might never have seen me again had I not brought that plastic arm home.”

“Scary thought.”

“No, but so you would’ve just - ”

“Thought about that interesting young woman called Rose who got away? Yeah. Wasn’t really up for asking anyone to come with me.”

“I noticed, what with you telling me to forget you and everything. Couldn’t do that, though, see, ‘cos you’d already made an impression on me.”

“You didn’t fancy me, though,” the Doctor sighed sadly.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, you didn’t.”

“Did I ever say that?”

“No, but you – what?”

“I maybe didn’t realise straight away but I was totally in lust with you before I knew it.”

The Doctor made a pleased sound in the back of his throat. “Really?”

“Really.”

He slid his hands down to her bum, and tugged her so that she was firmly against him. “We’ve got the flat to ourselves,” he pointed out.

“Mmhmm,” she agreed, smoothing her hands up his chest before gripping his shoulders, smiling up at him.

“Want to show me how in lust you are with me now?” he asked, leaning down to nip gently at her jaw.

“But the kettle just boiled.”

“I think we can save the tea for later, hm?” he murmured against her neck, breathing her in. “Why do you always smell so good?”

Rose laughed shakily. “Yeah, okay, tea later. And, um, didn’t know that I did.”

“Oh, you do,” he assured her, kissing his way down to her shoulder. “Always. Drives me bonkers.”

She rolled her hips into his, pleased when he sucked at the faint mark he’d made on her neck earlier in recompense. “You know what I think?”

“What’s that?” he asked distractedly, tugging the collar of her t-shirt aside to get at more skin.

“I think we should make the most of the empty flat to fuck each other senseless,” she said, then held her breath, awaiting his reaction.

The Doctor lifted his head slowly, the slack-jawed expression on his face nearly causing Rose to giggle. “You, uh. Blimey.” He squinted at her. “You need to say things like that more often.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s really sexy,” he said solemnly.

She bit her lip, smiling at him.

“That’s really sexy as well,” he added, nodding towards her. “You do that a lot. And that thing with your tongue.”

“My tongue?”

“Mm. Your tongue is always getting acquainted with the corner of your mouth and it’s really frustrating because it should be getting acquainted with mine, instead,” he informed her.

“Oh, sorry about that,” she teased.

“So you should be,” he teased back. Then he lifted his hands to cup her face and drew her into a heart-stopping kiss. Rose pushed him back against the fridge as she kissed back, clutching at his shirt and arching into him. He growled against her mouth and retaliated, walking her backwards towards the opposite counter, pressing her against it and angling his posture perfectly to rub his erection against her centre.

Rose let go of him and scrambled between them to lift her top off, now desperate for him to return to what he was doing earlier, in the alley. They broke apart so that she could get rid of it, and whilst she attacked his shirt buttons he admired the bra he hadn’t been able to see before.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” he hummed happily. “And I see what you mean. Lacy and racy, I like it.”

“Good,” she grinned, pushing his shirt off his shoulders, forgetting he had a tie on and nearly choking him. “Oops, sorry,” she said, half-laughing, half-wincing, as she reached up to loosen the tie and slide it from around his neck. She looked at it in her hand for a second. “We’re gonna have to make use of this someday, you know.”

“I have at least fifty-nine fantasies of us doing just that,” he agreed, but grabbed it and threw it behind them, before doing the same with his shirt. “Some other time.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, staring at his bare chest. She ran her fingers through the dusting of hair and then tweaked one of his nipples.

“Oi,” he laughed, then leant into kiss her again.

“Just wanted to check this was really happening,” she mumbled.

He pulled back. “Rose, if you think you’re dreaming, you’re supposed to pinch yourself.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, sorry. You’ve got me acting all daft.”

“Hmm, and I haven’t even ‘fucked you senseless’ yet. Good start,” he mused. He pinched her bum.

She whacked his arm. “Shut up.”

“Make me,” he grinned, as he dragged his forefinger along the curves of her breasts. 

Rose reached between them and cupped the delicious part of him she couldn’t wait to unveil. His eyes widened. She unzipped him and pushed the trousers down his hips, then grabbed his cock through his boxer-briefs and squeezed lightly.

“Oh,” he squeaked. His eyes fluttered closed and he leant forwards, pressing his forehead to hers. “Just realised something,” he murmured.

“What’s that?” she asked, as she eased his pants down over his erection.

“Your hand is going to be - ” He cut himself off when she wrapped said hand around him. His mouth fell open and he breathed out roughly.

“What?” she prompted, when he didn’t continue. Her thumb swiped across the head of his cock, gathering pre-come.

“It’s, er. Well. Your body temperature is warmer than mine. So your hand. It’s…”

“Hotter than you’re used to?” she realised, her smile widening.

“Mm,” he agreed, squeezing his eyes tightly closed as she stroked him a few times. “Fuck, Rose.”

“Does it feel good?”

“Yes.”

“And what about…” she mumbled, then trailed off, cheeks flushing pink. He opened his eyes and leant his head back to look at her, though his hands remained tightly gripping the counter either side of her to hold himself up. “What about when you’re…”

“What, Rose?” he whispered.

She tilted her head, not wanting to say it. “When you’re, you know…”

Realisation dawned, and his eyes lit up. He leant in close again, whispering heatedly, “What about when I’m inside you?”

“Yeah,” she breathed out.

The smirk that appeared on his face at that moment would’ve flooded her knickers if they weren’t already soaked. “I don’t know,” he teased. “Maybe I’ll spontaneously combust.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “What a way to regenerate.”

“Indeed,” he chuckled. “The best way.” He fumbled with the button on her jeans, then unzipped her. 

Struggling to concentrate with the heat of her hand pumping him, he tugged at the fabric, hoping that she’d get the hint and help him get the jeans off her. She did, thankfully, and leant away from the counter so that he could shove them down to her knees. Then, he seized her jaw with one hand to pull her into a kiss whilst his other hand sought out the space between her thighs, dancing over the damp cotton. “Mmm. You’re so wet, Rose. I can’t wait to taste you,” he mumbled against her lips, before sucking her tongue into his mouth.

She groaned in anticipation when he hooked the material of her knickers to the side, and barely kept up her own hand movements when he quite promptly slid two fingers into her. He pressed his thumb down on her clit and moved his fingers quickly. Within moments he was already addicted to the feeling of her intense heat clenching tightly around his fingers, not daring to think about how quickly he would come when completely encased inside her.

“Let go of me a sec,” he murmured, as they panted for breath. She released her hold on his cock and, thus freed, he dropped to his knees. His mouth moved to replace his thumb, suckling at her clit whilst his fingers curled just right and rubbed at the spot inside her. Rose’s legs shook, and she fought to keep herself standing upright, relieved that she could lean against the counter for support. When she felt the Doctor’s tongue dip inside her to replace his withdrawing fingers, she cried out, plunging one hand into his hair and gripping tightly. The Doctor moaned against her, enjoying her taste and the way she yanked on his hair to keep him in place.

He licked at her folds, returning his fingers to their new favourite place, and as he picked up the pace of their movement inside her, he swirled his tongue around her clit. After mumbling his name a few times, Rose felt the coil of pleasure tighten to its peak and snap, sending her tumbling over the edge. Listening to the incoherent filth that spluttered forth from her mouth as she came, the Doctor growled in delight, the vibrations of which made Rose shove his head back. He chuckled and eased her down with his fingers, watching in admiration as her sensitive clit visibly throbbed in time with her racing heartbeat. As she caught her breath back, he withdrew his fingers and stood, sucking them into his mouth and watching her eyes widen at the sight.

“That was spectacular!” he told her enthusiastically.

“You think?” she laughed, panting for breath.

He grinned and leant forwards, kissing her softly on the lips. She wrapped an arm around his neck and used him to hold herself up, her knees by now utterly useless in their weakened state. His cock, straining between them and brushing her belly, seemed even harder than it was before, and Rose mischievously trailed her fingers down the shaft.

The Doctor’s breath hitched and he pressed his nose into her cheek as he whispered, “Rose, can we, uh…move somewhere else?”

Rose nipped lazily at his jaw and nodded. “Mmm, definitely.”

On their way to Rose’s bedroom, they hopped about and stumbled around as they removed their trousers and underwear fully, wanting no further obstructions once they’d made it to her bed. The Doctor idly hooked Rose’s bra around the door handle as he followed her inside, then grabbed her into a snog, walking her backwards and pushing her down to the bed. She tugged at his shoulders to pull him down with her, and scooted back, widening her legs so that he could settle between them. 

"Rose - " he started, and she quickly nodded.

"Just, in, now," she requested, squeezing his arse to pull him into place.

When he sank into her, he had to grip the pillows either side of her head tightly in his fists. She was so hot around him; it felt better than he'd ever imagined it would. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, savouring the sensation.

"All right?" she whispered, stroking his biceps soothingly.

"Mmhmm," he ground out, dropping his head to her neck. He let out a whoosh of breath and it tickled her skin. "Blimey, Rose. This is like nothing else." When he was completely inside her, he continued, "Just got to stay here for a second." Her hips lifted restlessly and he sucked in a sharp breath. "No, just, wow, just stay still, just for a moment."

Rose pressed a kiss to his temple. "Sorry. Sure you're okay?"

"I'm - Rose, you've no idea. This is just..." he sighed happily. "It's fantastic."

She blushed, and bit into her bottom lip, trying not to smile too widely at his pronouncement. "Good," she whispered.

He nuzzled her neck, murmuring something she couldn't hear, but when she asked him what he'd said, he didn't reply. Instead, he began to draw back, easing out of her nearly all the way before plunging back in, fast. Rose gasped in surprise and he did it again, wanting her to repeat that sound. She did, and laughed at the pleased expression on his face when he lifted his head to look at her. The Doctor set up a quick rhythm, utterly transfixed by her face whenever his pelvis rubbed at her clit on a forward thrust. He couldn't tear his eyes from her. She was beautiful. One of his hands left the pillow to their left, and his fingers traced a path along her jaw line and down, down her neck, down to her right breast, cupping and squeezing the mound and playing with her nipple. She tried to smirk at him but could only manage a lazy, slack-jawed smile, and he shoved into her harder at the sight.

He was grateful that her orgasm seemed to be building fast, for the exquisite feeling of her walls gripping him so tightly made him seriously doubt that he could hold on for very long himself. Hooking the underside of one of her knees in the crook of his elbow, he pushed her leg up towards her, the change in angle allowing him more leverage to move deeper. 

"Fuck, oh god," she gasped out, clutching at his neck and shoulders. "Shit, yes, fuck."

The Doctor released her breast and trailed that hand between them, looking down to where they were joined, rubbing at her clit quickly. Watching as he moved inside her, the Doctor's mouth fell open, a surge of delight and exhilaration going through him at the sheer relief that this was finally happening, he was finally physically and intimately acquainted with the woman he was in love with, and when her walls started clenching down around him, his eyes snapped back up to her face, watching her as she came apart, hearing her shout out his name as her orgasm hit her. He turned his face to the side slightly, pressing his lips against her knee then biting into it as he fought for his own release. She yelped at his action and then giggled, and he fell forwards, dropping her leg to move his mouth to hers, swallowing her moans and muffling his own against her lips. His thrusts quickened to a frantic pace, and then he was coming, spurting into her wildly and groaning out her name.

After a few moments in which he was pretty sure he'd lost his vision and hearing due to the sheer force of his orgasm, he found himself sprawled atop her, panting for breath, his respiratory bypass failing him utterly. Rose hummed in contentment, stroking his sweaty back and pressing small kisses to his forehead. With great effort, he heaved himself up on his tired arms to lift his weight off her. 

"That. Was. Brilliant," he informed her, beaming.

Rose laughed happily and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Yep, it really was."

They spent a few seconds just staring at each other, absorbing the knowledge of what they had just done - or, in the Doctor's mind, what they had just achieved together. He was feeling very pleased at the result of their quite frankly excellent teamwork.

When he rolled off her, he did so carefully, reaching down with his hand and cupping her entrance as he pulled out.

Rose laughed at him and he retorted, "What? Just trying to minimise the mess so that your mother doesn't find out what we just got up to. Got any tissues?"

"Not on me, no," Rose replied, giggling again.

He frowned, and glanced down at his hand. Then, he shrugged, and lifted it to her abdomen, wiping it onto her skin. When he looked at her face she was staring at him with wide eyes.

"I cannot actually believe you just did that," she said.

His brow furrowed again. "What? You're all sticky and sweaty anyway. Better than having Jackie questioning it being all over your duvet. Wait here while I fetch a flannel. Don't move a muscle." He gave her a charming grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my god," she muttered, watching his bum as he popped out of the room. "Such a weirdo."

"Heard that!" he called out to her from the bathroom. 

"Good!"

::

Once they had cleaned up and tidied the path of clothes that led to her room, the Doctor and Rose shared a quick shower and got into their pyjamas. They cuddled up on the sofa, feeling too wired to fall asleep just yet, and watched a late-night repeat of their favourite chat-show on the telly, the blanket Jackie had given them earlier draped over their laps again.

His closest arm was wrapped around her shoulders, so Rose found his other hand beneath the blanket and linked their fingers together. Looking up at him from where her cheek rested against his shoulder, she murmured, "I'm so glad we finally got around to doing that."

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, me too."

She stretched out her legs, lifting her feet to rest them on his shins, where his ankles were crossed on the coffee table. "We're really good at it."

He stroked his fingers through her hair idly. "Fantastic, more like."

"Mmm," she smiled. "Tonight felt like...I dunno, seeing Jimmy and telling him what I thought of him, and then doing what we just did...it's like, a new start, almost. You know?"

He looked down and met her gaze. "I know."

"New new us," she said softly.

"New new us," he agreed, leaning in close and giving her a quick kiss.

"So, you know how we're staying here the next few days whilst the TARDIS recovers?"

"Mm?"

"How am I gonna be able to keep my hands off you in case Mum sees?"

The Doctor laughed. "Well, hopefully she'll be busy with her new gentleman-friend in the evenings. As for during the day, well...you'll just have to learn to resist me," he grinned.

"Hmm, it's gonna be hard, re-learning that after tonight," she mused.

He squeezed her hand. "To be honest, Rose, I think you'll recall that everyone thought we were together anyway, so there's really nothing you can do..."

"True," she conceded. She bit her lip. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to go to bed now."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, you must be tired. I'll just..."

"You're coming with me," she told him wisely, standing up and pulling him with her.

"Oh. Oh! Okay. But, um - I told your Mum I'd be taking the sofa. Won't she throw a fit if she sees me coming out of your room in the morning?"

"Like you just pointed out, it's unlikely she'd expect anything different."

The Doctor tilted his head and followed Rose to her bedroom. "Ah, good point."


End file.
